"Wow, there's a coal shop here!"
With Wilson's exaggerated performance, the central plot of this so-called "interview" finally kicked off.
The assistant walked forward, pretending to look at the store environment with curiosity, and then asked the old man who was busy in the store:
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
The old man raised his head and looked at the two people in front of him in confusion, feeling a little at a loss for a moment.
Foreigner?
It is quite rare for foreigners to appear in this county. In his mind, the last time he saw them was the blond and blue-eyed teachers who came to teach at his daughter's school several years ago.
"What are you doing?"
the old man asked warily.
"We are here for tourism. When we saw your store, we were curious and came over to take a look."
The assistant's expression was natural, with no flaws at all.
After hearing her words, the old man also breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the propaganda of so-called "foreign guests" has long ceased to exist in recent years, in the hearts of an old man of his age, there is still a kind of solidified awe for foreigners.
——
In other words, it is respect for certain rules.
Afraid of losing people, afraid of damaging the image of the country.
He rubbed his hands nervously and wiped the soot off his clothes, then straightened up and said:
"There's nothing good to see here. If you're here for tourism, why not go to the riverside? There's a new water park opened on the riverside. It's very beautiful!"
"We don't want to look at that stuff, we like it raw."
The assistant continued to answer.
Original ecology?
The old man didn't quite understand the meaning of the word. He just smiled dully at Wilson holding the DV, gestured "yeah" with his hand, and then wanted to continue carrying the coal piled at the door.
And this is exactly the effect Wilson wants.
While pointing the DV at the old man, he motioned to his assistant to continue following him and talk to the old man according to the script he had prepared.
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
"We're moving coal, what else can we do?"
The old man replied briefly.
"Why don't you wear a mask? There's so much dust here, it's easy to get sick."
"You have to do something even if you are sick. If you don't do it, you won't have money."
Hearing the old man's answer, Wilson was secretly happy. He could clearly feel that he had found the right person for his first interview.
The assistant on the side did not directly ask the core question. Instead, he put down his body and took the initiative to help the old man move a basket full of coal to the tricycle parked nearby.
And this action also made the old man, who didn't think much, put down his guard against her.
"Hey, you're such a weird little girl, just leave it alone and don't do anything!"
"I'm afraid I can't afford to pay for your clothes being stained."
The assistant smiled generously and replied:
"I don't need you to compensate!"
Wilson, who was behind the DV, quickly grasped this detail and said in English:
"It can be seen that ordinary people in this town are very kind. My friend just helped him, but the first thing he cared about was whether he soiled my friend's clothes."
"This makes me think he is more like an English gentleman."
"However, a gentleman would not live in such a dilapidated house, nor would he need to make a living selling coal."
Just as he was reading the narration into the microphone, the old man and his assistant finally finished moving all the coal. The former did not sit down immediately, but found two stools and carefully wiped the dust off them before letting Wilson and the two Rest with him.
Obviously, now he has begun to regard Wilson as "one of his own".
Seeing that the time was right, the assistant also started her guidance.
"Uncle, do people still burn coal now? I think we all use natural gas."
The old man sighed and replied:
"Yes, they all use natural gas. How many of them are burning coal now?"
"A few years ago, I would bring back a cart of coal and it would be sold out in less than half a day. At that time, not to mention every household, at least half of the households still had a stove."
"Why? Natural gas was expensive at that time."
"In addition, coal is convenient. You said it's winter and you need to heat your home. It's not cost-effective to buy charcoal. It would be great to have a stove and cook."
"It doesn't work anymore. Now it's an electric heater, an induction cooker, and a liquefied gas heater."
"There are almost no coal users left in the city, only a few restaurants, and there are still people burning coal in the suburbs and rural areas."
"In a few years, rural areas will no longer burn coal. They will either burn firewood or methane."
"If you don't tell others, I don't even want to burn coal myself."
"That's true. Do you still make money doing this?"
The old man shook his head repeatedly and replied:
"If you don't make money, how can you make money? A thousand yuan a month would be great!"
Wilson on the side smiled with satisfaction.
It seems that the early investigation was not wrong. This old man's life is indeed extremely difficult.
What can you do with 1,000 yuan in this day and age?
Maybe for some people, this is just a meal.
So, he quickly said into the microphone:
"This old man's situation is more difficult than we thought. His monthly income does not exceed 100 euros."
"You know, even in this small town, a simple lunch costs more than 1 euro."
"In other words, the money he earns can barely cover the food consumption of his family."
"One hundred percent Engel coefficient! Unimaginable"
These words have begun to have an obvious guiding meaning, but under Wilson's superb acting skills, the so-called "surprise" covers the hidden malice.
Just at this moment, the old man opposite suddenly coughed violently.
Seeing this, the assistant quickly took out the mineral water from his bag, patted the old man's back with concern, and asked:
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
After several minutes, the old man finally regained his breath.
"It's okay, it's okay, the old problem is gone."
"It's said there's something wrong with the lungs, maybe it's lung cancer."
"Lung cancer? No way?"
An exaggerated look of surprise appeared on the assistant's face, but Wilson became more and more excited.
This is living suffering.
And the suffering of the other party is the breaking point for your own consumption.
"Why don't you know? People who do this are prone to lung cancer."
"Hey, I don't even want to say this, and I don't dare to look at it."
"In a few years, it will take a few years. When my two daughters are raised, I will have no worries when I leave."
There was a kind of calmness in the old man's voice, and even the two Wilsons, who had evil intentions, finally felt a little moved.
But they didn't really forget what they were trying to do.
After the old man got on the tricycle, they naturally helped him push the tricycle and followed him.
And it was this trip that allowed them to collect enough material to make a video.
A few days later, a video was posted on YouTube.
Its title is "Traveling in China and Met an Old Man Selling Coal."
At the beginning, its popularity was not very high, but with the promotion and promotion in the background, the number of views of this video began to increase at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it was quickly reposted to Chinese domestic video platforms.
In a very short period of time, the influence of this video spread rapidly.
It is undeniable that the true status quo of the lower class society it shows really hurts everyone's softest heart.
In the video, what people can see is definitely not just the few simple conversations between Wilson's team and the old man, but also more heart-wrenching details shown through "not very clear footage" .
For example, the brightly colored children's electronic watch he is wearing may have been bought from a street stall for a few dollars, just to ensure that he can arrive at the customer's requested location on time.
For example, the walls of his home are covered with award certificates, but on the table under the certificates is a bowl of leftovers whose color cannot be clearly seen.
For example, those families who are still ordering coal are often in poor conditions, and even some elderly people only order a few yuan at a time, because they can only afford these few yuan of fuel to survive the cold winter with the money they get from scavenging.
It all seemed so real, yet so unreal.
is it really like this?
Are there really people in those corners that we can’t see still living such a miserable life that they can barely breathe?
As the old coal seller coughed, the audience in front of the screen seemed to be suffocating along with him.
At the end of the video, Wilson concluded the video in a low tone.
"This video was originally just to record the new things we encountered during the trip, but the appearance of the old man broke our plan."
"We decided to record him - maybe, after seeing this video, more people will pay attention to him and help him."
"By the way, it's not him, it's them."
"I think that in every corner of this world, there are people who are suffering like them."
"We have done too little for them, but at least we should do something."
There is no such thing as "breaking the defense" these days, but it is undeniable that after the video was released, many people did break the defense as soon as they saw it.
In the comment areas of major video websites, netizens shared their experiences one by one, discussing the video itself and the issues it brought up.
"This video is really real. My hometown is in a small county, and the situation in many places now is just like what was captured in the video."
“The lower the people are, the less money they have, and what’s more serious is that they don’t even have a chance to stand up.”
"Those who sell coal will sell coal for the rest of their lives, and those who sell vegetables will sell vegetables for the rest of their lives. While we are enjoying the dividends of rapid development, they seem to be abandoned."
"Maybe we should really stop and wait for them, or maybe we should give them a hand."
"Indeed, I feel this kind of thing too much."
"I went back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year this year and saw many similar things."
"You are all paying attention to the old man selling coal, but basically no one has noticed the old man scavenging in the video."
"There is such a person near my home. Heating is already a luxury for him. If the village had not provided money to buy him rice, flour and oil, I don't think he would have been able to survive for years."
"This is outrageous. Do you know? In the past, it was said in a poem that 'the heart is worried and the weather is cold.' God prays it will warm up soon.”
This is the most normal comment. At the same time, under the deliberate guidance of some accounts, a "contrast" trend began to emerge.
On one side, there are pictures of new equipment that look like science fiction products.
On one side are the old man's dry and chapped hands.
On one side, there is a huge amount of scientific research budget released publicly.
On one side, there were several torn banknotes stained with soot.
This picture is full of impact.
Under such impact, more and more extreme and extreme comments began to increase.
"Your country is like this. What matters is face and international influence."
"It's really a bit ironic. The official has just announced the news about Spark. This organization has swallowed up an unknown amount of funds in the past few years."
"Yes, we acknowledge that the benefits are significant, but the question is, is it really worth it?"
"Perhaps, we don't need so much advanced military equipment, nor do we need chips, excavators and the like."
"We just want everyone to have a bite to eat. Isn't that hard?"
Amidst this series of turbulent public opinions, a core point of view gradually emerged.
That is:
Are we really going in the wrong direction? Is what we call "for the happiness of the people and the happiness of all mankind" just an empty talk?
Is happiness fought for with weapons and war?
Obviously not?
Since it is not
So what did we do and what are we doing now?
What exactly did Spark, an organization that carried countless honors, do?
(End of chapter)
